It's Just High School
by CharryWotter
Summary: Non-magic AU. Remus Lupin starts a new high school his junior year with a secret. Follow his path to finding classes, friends, and enemies as he navigates the world of high school. But what is he hiding? And can James, Sirius, and Peter find a fourth marauder? WOLFSTAR in later chapters.
1. First Day

AU! No magic or Hogwarts! Future WOLFSTAR! (they are juniors)

Starts Lupin POV, after winter holidays

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Remus stepped slowly through the gates into his new highschool. All around, happy kids rushed forward with their friends. All the motion made Remus' head hurt. It was too much to take in.

Remus sighed. Homeschooling had been so much easier.

Looking at his class schedule, Remus saw that he had math first. The class, taught by a woman named Professor McGonagall, was in Hall 7 (whatever that meant). Looking around, Remus began to panic. He couldn't be late on the first day!

Luckily, Remus stumbled upon the correct hall and collapsed into an empty seat ten minutes early. He looked around the classroom.

In the corner, a greasy, black-haired boy sat with a pale boy, snickering. For a second, the black-haired kid looked across the room, and his expression showed pain before his mask reappeared. Following the kid's gaze, Remus saw a red-haired girl talking with a boy in glasses. She was really very pretty, and the messy-haired guy in glasses obviously couldn't agree more.

However, the girl turned away from the boy quickly, disgusted. Remus was surprised to see that she was coming towards him.

"Hi," the pretty girl said. "I'm Lily Evans. You must be new."

Uncomfortably, Remus nodded. "Yeah. I'm Remus Lupin."

"Things must be so hard for you," Lily responded. She seemed to really mean it, surprisingly. "I can help you out a bit, if you want."

Help. Remus knew that he didn't deserve help. "I'm fine."

Lily sighed. "All right. Well, if you change your mind, I'm always here. And I'm sure Sna—" her voice faltered as she sadly looked over to the greasy-haired kid laughing at some poor kid. Lily tried again. "I'm sure James, Sirius, and Peter could help you."

She pointed over at the messy-haired guy, who was now standing with his two friends.

Remus nodded. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

Lily smiled before walking over to her own friends right as the bell rang.

Professor McGonagall walked in. She looked strict, but didn't seem to be harsh. "Today, we will be reviewing our tests," she began.

However, the teacher didn't get far before she was interrupted by a large groan. Remus looked over. One of James' friends—the lanky one with shoulder-length hair and leather jacket—was lounging back, looking utterly disgusted.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall said. Remus noticed that the boy flinched slightly at the name. Curious. McGonagall continued. "But was there something you wanted to share with the class?"

The guy, seeing that his teacher wasn't kidding around, sat up quickly. "Um, no, Professor."

"Are you sure? Because I wouldn't mind you doing the work in detention."

"No, I'm being completely—" the guy paused, smirking at James—" _serious_."

Remus didn't get the joke. He supposed that this 'serious' joke must be related to some kind of memory with James and his friends.

However, many kids in the class snickered. Black (Remus still didn't know his first name) high-fived a laughing James. A pudgy kid sitting behind James looked on admirably. It seemed these kids were pretty popular.

Only a few people weren't laughing. Lily was rolling her eyes and muttering to her friends. The greasy guy looked on disdainfully. And Professor McGonagall looked like she was ready to spew fire.

"Detention, Mr. Black."

Black stopped laughing, a horrified expression coming over his face. "But Professor…my parents…"

"Will definitely be notified."

James' face turned into a thundercloud. "But, Professor…it was just a harmless joke! It didn't deserve a detention!" he called out.

"And suddenly, you think you should be the teacher, Mr. Potter?" the stern math teacher challenged.

James, seeing that his friend's face was not changed, defiantly called out, "Yeah. I know I'm smarter than, like, everyone here!" Lily rolled her eyes again.

Professor McGonagall was not pleased. "Are you serious?"

Without missing a beat, James turned mock hurt. "Professor!" he whined. "We're halfway through the school year! You should know by now…"-pointing at himself, James continued—"James,"—pointing at Black—"Sirius. You can't still be mixing us up!"

Remus noticed that one half of Black's mouth—or, he guessed, Sirius'—was turned up by his friend's antics.

McGonagall was the exact opposite. "Detention, Mr. Potter! I will not tolerate disrespect! I will see both you and Mr. Black tonight!" Turning to the class, she added, "Well, now that our math class has been disrupted, I think we should make that a tutoring session for both boys. Does anyone understand the material we've been working on?"

Flipping through the math book, Remus only saw math he had learned. Hesitantly raising his hand, he was surprised to see that no one else's hands were up.

Professor McGonagall looked relieved. "You can come tutor Mr. Black and Mr. Potter tonight."

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So….how will tutoring go? What is Remus hiding? And why would James go to such length to stand up for his friend?

Answers to those questions and more—coming up in the next chapter!

Please review!


	2. Detention

Sorry it's been so long!

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Remus showed up early to the tutoring session, hoping to make a good first impression. James and Sirius were obviously popular, and Remus didn't need to be the target of any bullying.

He didn't need to make friends either, though.

Sirius was the first to arrive, surprising Remus. He would have thought Sirius would show up late in his car, not apologizing—not caring…But no.

Instead, he was five minutes early. And it seemed he had walked the way to school.

Remus stood at the window, looking out.

Sirius wasn't as carefree as he had been in class. Instead, his face was closed off, and he seemed to be limping.

Remus figured that he had been in some fight—the recently acquired black eye seemed to add to the theory.

Sirius didn't enter the building, however. Instead, he sat on the curb, almost as if Sirius was waiting. For who?

Of course. James.

When the messy-haired boy showed up in his car, and kissed his parents good-bye, Sirius perked up.

The second the car vanished, James rushed over to him. James seemed to be asking an urgent question, but Sirius glared at him.

When James pulled up Sirius' pant leg, Remus felt like he was intruding on something private. But everything was happening right out on the sidewalk.

Remus actually had to sit down when he saw the state Sirius' leg was in. Every inch of skin was covered with bruises, and there was a big gash from his knee down to his ankle.

Luckily, Sirius brushed James off and quickly pulled his pant leg down. He and James began walking toward the classroom, and Remus quickly ran over to a desk near the front of the room.

James and Sirius soon entered, deep in a conversation.

"—because of your name?" James was asking.

"Yup. All Blacks are perfect. Or at least we have to look perfect. And detention the first day back from break?" Sirius made a fist, but quickly stopped when he saw Remus staring.

Noticing the silence, James changed the topic. "So, you're Remus, right?"

Remus nodded his confirmation. "I have a sort of lesson plan made for the, uh, detention, if you want…" he trailed off.

Sirius glared, but didn't seem to be mad at either classmate. "I already know this stuff. This detention's useless!"

Remus awkwardly sat down. "Um, alright, then. How about you, James?"

The boy tousled his hair and laughed. "I am perfect at everything I do, and therefore, need no tutoring!" he exclaimed.

Sirius snorted. "You just keep telling yourself that, mate."

Remus was never that good with social situations, and this detention obviously would not be about math, so he began packing up. "I guess I'll…see you guys tomorrow, then?"

Sirius sat upright. "But we have to make this detention mean something!"

Confused, Remus asked, "Don't you already know the math, though?"

Sirius laughed. "Not that. Look, we're all alone in old Minnie's classroom! Anything could happen!" His face darkened. "I wouldn't want to have been, um, _disciplined_ by my parents for nothing."

James knew what his friend needed. Or at least Remus hoped. "That's actually a great idea, Pads," James began. "And if Remus here says we were working, she wouldn't be able to prove it was us!"

Sirius brightened up. "Right! Remus is such a studious, good little boy! McGonagall will believe anything he says!"

Remus frowned. "I don't like where this is headed…"

James laughed. "We prank; you lie to keep us out of trouble."

" _Me_ out of trouble," Sirius muttered.

Remus still looked skeptical. "Guys, this is my first day here! What if Professor McGonagall finds out I've lied to her?"

"What will it take to get you to do this?" James asked thoughtfully.

"A bribe! Brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I don't know…" Remus said slowly. "I still don't like the chances." _You guys may be safe_ , he thought, _but I'll be kicked out for sure. After what Dumbledore went through to get me here…_

"How about this," Sirius proposed, "so, we could leave a note in this classroom. It could say who did the prank!"

"You want us to get caught?" James asked.

Remus, however, understood. "Right! So we can name ourselves, and throw McGonagall off the scent."

Brightening, James added, "We can prank more throughout the year, each time leaving a note!"

"What should we call ourselves?" Sirius asked. "It has to be something interesting…like The Thieves!"

Remus still didn't like the idea, but he thought the name should be more creative all the same. "What about the Rogues? Or the Marauders?" he offered.

"Marauders," James said, trying it out. "I like it!"

"Marauders it is!" Sirius exclaimed. "So we'll prank McGonagall, claiming to be the Marauders, and Remus can say that we studied the whole time in detention!"

Remus thought about it. "I still don't like our chances…"

"Hmmm," James looked around the room for inspiration. "Do you like chocolate?"

Remus looked at him. "Now we're talking!"

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The birth of the AU Marauders!

(And don't worry—Peter will join them soon, he's not forgotten!)

Will McGonagall believe Lupin? How successful will the Marauders' prank be? What happened to Sirius? What is Remus hiding?

Answers to those and more…COMING SOON!

PLEASE REVIEW! And if you have any prank ideas, I'm happy to hear them :)


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